Handheld container with removable divider

ABSTRACT

A handheld container includes a container body defining a cavity that can be separated by a removable divider. A handle portion extends from the container body permitting the container to be handheld. A front wall is provided with ribs on an interior surface for use with a paintbrush or a mini paint roller. The container also is shaped to provide rests for the paintbrush and the paint roller.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of the co-pending U.S.design patent application Ser. No. 29/180,327 filed Apr. 21, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to containers and, inparticular, to a handheld container including a removable dividerdisposed therein.

[0003] Containers, such as paint containers for use with paintinginstruments including paintbrushes and paint rollers, are well known.Standard size paint containers include one-gallon cans and five-gallonplastic buckets that are not easily handheld during painting. Portablepaint containers are then often utilized by painters to provide a supplyof paint while painting.

[0004] A common problem is that most portable paint containers are noteasily manipulated by hand when it is desirable to move the portablepaint container or when it is desirable to hold the portable paintcontainer with one hand while painting with the other. Another commonproblem is that most paint containers are not stable when moved betweenvarious locations and placed on various work surfaces. Yet anothercommon problem for painters is finding a place to rest the paintbrush orpaint roller while painting. If the paintbrush or paint roller is restedon a typical can or bucket, there is generally insufficient support forthe paintbrush or paint roller, which often causes the paintbrush orpaint roller to fall into or over the side of the can or bucket ordisadvantageously allows a wet surface of the paintbrush or roller toeither contact another surface or drip excess paint onto the surface.

[0005] It is desirable, therefore, to provide a portable container thatis able to be easily manipulated, is stable when placed on a worksurface, and that provides a divider for separating the cavity into apaint containing portion and a portion for resting a paintbrush or apaint roller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] A handheld container according to the present invention includesa container body defining an upwardly opening cavity formed therein. Ahandle portion extends downwardly from a rear edge of the container bodyadjacent the cavity. A divider is disposed in the cavity to divide thecavity into a first portion and a second portion. The first portion islarger than the second portion and is used to store a supply of paintduring use. The second portion is adjacent to the handle and is sized toreceive a paintbrush or mini paint roller. In addition to dividing thecavity, the divider also provides support to the bristles end of thepaintbrush when the paintbrush is rested on a lip surrounding the cavityopening. The handle permits a user to carry a supply of paint in onehand while painting with a brush or a roller with the other hand.

[0007] The divider is removable for the purpose of stacking a pluralityof the container bodies during shipping or storage at a point of sale.The divider can be releasably attached to the upper surface of thebottom wall of the cavity for these purposes.

[0008] Although the container according to the present invention isdescribed herein as being useful for painting, it has many other uses.For example, with or without the divider, the container can be used toscoop and carry bulk materials. Slot machine players can use thecontainer to hold a quantity of coins in place of the typical plasticcup.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The above, as well as other advantages of the present invention,will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment when consideredin the light of the accompanying drawings in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container in accordance with thepresent invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the container shown in FIG. 1; and

[0012]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG.2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0013] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a handheld container inaccordance with the present invention is indicated generally at 10. Thecontainer 10 includes a container body 12 and a cooperating removabledivider 13 that are preferably formed of an injection molded plasticmaterial or similar material. The container body 12 includes a frontwall 14 and a rear wall 15 connected by a pair of side walls 16. Abottom wall 17 is attached at a lower edge of each of the walls 14, 15and 16 to form a cavity in the body 12 open at the top for retainingliquids and bulk solids. As shown in FIG. 2, in plan the body 12 iswider toward the front wall 14 and narrows toward the rear wall 15.Extending rearwardly from the rear wall 15 is a handle 18 having agenerally horizontal rearwardly extending connector portion 19 attachedto an upper edge of the rear wall 15 and downwardly extending gripportion 20. The connector portion 19 is generally U-shaped in crosssection and the grip portion 20 has a generally square tubular shapewith rounded corners and is closed by a bottom wall 21. The grip portion20 is sized to be grasped by a human hand. The bottom walls 17 and 21extend in generally the same plane to provide a stable base for restingthe container 12 upon a horizontal support or work surface such as acountertop, a floor or a shelf of a stepladder.

[0014] The front wall 14 includes an upper portion 22 that extendsgenerally horizontally and a lower portion 23 that extends downwardlyand inwardly from the upper portion 22 to the bottom wall 17. The sidewalls 16 slope inwardly from top to bottom and the rear wall 15 extendsin a curved vertical plane and also slopes inwardly from top to bottom.A generally vertically extending lip 24 is attached at the upper edgesof the walls 14, 15 and 16, the connector portion 19 and the gripportion 20 to define an open top of the container 10. The lip 24 isoutwardly displaced to form an inner upwardly facing step 25 and anouter downwardly facing step 26.

[0015] As best shown in FIG. 3, a pair of continuous flanges 27 isformed on interior surface of the side walls 16 and the bottom wall 17to define a groove 28 therebetween for receiving edges of the divider13. The flanges 27 extend up the side walls 16 short of the lip 24. Thedivider 27 can be thicker at an upper edge 29 than at a bottom edge 30such that it tapers in thickness. When inserted into the groove 28, thecontainer body 12 is separated into a larger front cavity 31, betweenthe divider 13 and the front wall 14, and a smaller rear cavity 32,between the divider 13 and the rear wall 15. The groove 28 is configuredto engage the bottom edge 30 and side edges of the divider 13 to sealagainst leakage of liquid between the front cavity 31 and the rearcavity 32.

[0016] A larger width rib 33 and a plurality of smaller width ribs 34are formed on and extend in a horizontal direction partially across aninner surface of the front wall 14. The rib 33 is positioned at thejuncture of the upper portion 22 and the lower portion 23 to form aretainer for a mini roller (not shown) resting on the upper portion 22.The ribs 34 are preferably evenly spaced apart along the lower portion23 for aiding in the removal of excess paint from a mini roller or thebristles of a paintbrush.

[0017] The divider 13 is removably retained in the groove 28. Duringshipment or storage, a plurality of the containers 10 may beadvantageously stacked together with each associated divider 13temporarily adhered, by adhesive tape or the like, to the upwardlyfacing surface of the bottom wall 17. As explained above, the walls 14,15 and 16 are tapered. The walls of the grip portion 20 are tapered in asimilar manner to facilitate nesting of the containers 10. A hang tab 35can be provided on the container body 12, molded integral therewith,extending rearwardly from the lip at the handle 18. The hang tab 35 isapertured for receiving a display hook (not shown).

[0018] When the container 10 is in use for painting, for example, thedivider 13 is seated in the groove 28 to define the front cavity 31,which can be filed with paint, and the rear cavity 32, which can hold apaintbrush. The handle 18 permits a person to hand carry the container10 while painting. If desired, the bristles of a paintbrush (not shown)can be rested on the upper edge 29 of the divider 13 while the handle ofthe paintbrush is rested on the connector portion 19 of the handle 18.If a mini paint roller is being utilized, the roller can be rested onthe upper portion 22 of the front wall 14 with a handle portion of theroller resting on the connector portion 19.

[0019] The container 10 has a number of alternate uses for holdingliquid or bulk materials with, or without, the divider 13. For example,at a casino the divider 13 can be used to separate coins of differingdenominations and the handle 18 allows the casino patron to move easilybetween various locations within the casino. In another use, thecontainer 10 functions as a scoop device, wherein the handle 18 allows aperson to easily move materials and the divider 13 may or may not beutilized.

[0020] In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, thepresent invention has been described in what is considered to representits preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the inventioncan be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated anddescribed without departing from its spirit or scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A handheld container comprising: a container bodyhaving a plurality of walls defining an open top cavity; a handleextending from said container body adjacent the cavity and being adaptedto be grasped by a human hand; a divider disposed in said cavity; andsaid container body including means for removably retaining said dividerin said cavity thereby dividing said cavity in two.
 2. The handheldcontainer according to claim 1 wherein said plurality of walls includesa front wall having a generally horizontally extending upper portion anda sloped lower portion.
 3. The handheld container according to claim 2including a rib formed on an interior surface of said front wall andadapted to retain a mini paint roller resting on said upper portion. 4.The handheld container according to claim 2 including at least onegenerally horizontally extending rib formed on an interior surface ofsaid lower portion of said front wall.
 5. The handheld containeraccording to claim 1 including a front wall, a rear wall and a pair ofside walls attaching said front wall to said rear wall.
 6. The handheldcontainer according to claim 5 wherein said front, rear and side wallseach slope inwardly from a top to a bottom.
 7. The handheld containeraccording to claim 5 including a lip extending upwardly from an upperedge of each of said front, rear and side walls.
 8. The handheldcontainer according to claim 7 wherein said lip is displaced outwardlyfrom said front, rear and side walls forming an inner upwardly facingstep and an outer downwardly facing step.
 9. The handheld containeraccording to claim 1 wherein said handle includes a grip portion adaptedto be grasped by a human hand and a connector portion attaching saidgrip portion to said container body.
 10. The handheld containeraccording to claim 9 wherein said grip portion has a tubular shapepermitting nesting with another of the handheld container.
 11. Thehandheld container according to claim 1 wherein said handle includes ahang tab extending therefrom.
 12. The handheld container according toclaim 1 wherein said divider tapers inwardly from an upper edge to alower edge.
 13. The handheld container according to claim 1 wherein saidmeans for removably retaining includes a pair of spaced apart flangesformed on an interior surface of said container body, said flangesdefining a groove therebetween for receiving edges of said divider. 14.The handheld container according to claim 1 wherein said walls include abottom wall of said cavity and wherein said handle has a bottom wall,said bottom walls extending in a common plane for resting the handheldcontainer on a support surface.
 15. A handheld painting containercomprising: a container body having a front wall, a rear wall, a pair ofside walls and a bottom wall, said walls being connected to define anopen top cavity; a handle extending from said container body adjacentthe cavity and being adapted to be grasped by a human hand; and adivider removably disposed in said cavity and engaging said side wallsand said bottom wall thereby dividing said cavity in two.
 16. Thehandheld container according to claim 14 wherein said front wall has agenerally horizontally extending upper portion and a sloped lowerportion and including a rib formed on an interior surface of said frontwall and adapted to retain a mini paint roller resting on said upperportion.
 17. The handheld container according to claim 16 including aplurality of generally horizontally extending ribs formed on an interiorsurface of said lower portion of said front wall.
 18. A handheldcontainer comprising: a container body having a front wall, a rear wall,a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, said walls being connected todefine an open top cavity; a handle extending from said container body,said handle including a grip portion adapted to be grasped by a humanhand and a connector portion connecting said grip portion to said rearwall; and a divider removably disposed in said cavity and engaging saidside walls and said bottom wall thereby dividing said cavity in two. 19.The handheld container according to claim 18 wherein said grip portionis tubular permitting nesting with another of the handheld container.20. The handheld container according to claim 18 wherein said bottomwall of said cavity and a bottom wall of said handle extend in a commonplane for resting the handheld container on a support surface.